4 ms·

A bit tangental, but one of the effects of the COVID situation has been to show me how dirty the air was previously. I live in a pretty clean place to begin wit

A bit tangental, but one of the effects of the COVID situation has been to show me how dirty the air was previously. I live in a pretty clean place to begin with, but the sky has never been so blue. It's usually crossed with jet contrails, but it also usually has a bit of a haze that I hadn't really noticed until it was gone. On a similar note, I find my stress levels are significantly different when walking in city blocks where cars are banned vs walking on sidewalks alongside any kind of traffic. Double the stress, if you have kids with you.

s5300 7y ago
Genuinely curious - is it really more clean though? Or is it just more visibly clear to humans (obviously, that is due to a reduction in pollution, but just how much?) I'm just basing this thought off of waterways in Italy and such. When all the pictures of "unpolluted waterways" were going around... it's not that there was a drastic reduction in pollution. It's just that the silt hadn't been disturbed by boats/other man made things. Very huge issue in diving - some famous cave divers have claimed that's typically the cause of their most near-death situations. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silt_out https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silt_out
- kaybe 7y ago
  It is, you can probably check the plots from your local air pollution measurements. (Of course, in isolation that means nothing since the values are influenced heavily by weather, eg wind direction, but in aggregate and in comparison to the past you can interpret it.) It is also especially obvious in satellite images (for those pollutants that can easily measured by satellite). Eg. the NO2 concentrations have gone down significantly in many areas of the world. eg. https://www.space.com/nasa-satellite-air-pollution-us-northeast-coronavirus.html https://www.space.com/nasa-satellite-air-pollution-us-northe... but you can easily look for more.
- nelaboras 7y ago
  the Dolphins in venice was really a matter oft cleanliness, and possibly less boat traffic. The canals aren't so deep that you would not see dolphins swimming through on normal days.
checker659 7y ago
Are you sure you're not finding the sky blue because it's spring?
- christophilus 7y ago
  The sky here normally has 5+ jet contrails. I live approximately between Atlanta and Charlotte. I can’t think of a single time since moving here that the sky has truly been clear.

s5300 7y ago

Genuinely curious - is it really more clean though? Or is it just more visibly clear to humans (obviously, that is due to a reduction in pollution, but just how much?) I'm just basing this thought off of waterways in Italy and such. When all the pictures of "unpolluted waterways" were going around... it's not that there was a drastic reduction in pollution. It's just that the silt hadn't been disturbed by boats/other man made things. Very huge issue in diving - some famous cave divers have claimed that's typically the cause of their most near-death situations. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silt_out https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silt_out

kaybe 7y ago
It is, you can probably check the plots from your local air pollution measurements. (Of course, in isolation that means nothing since the values are influenced heavily by weather, eg wind direction, but in aggregate and in comparison to the past you can interpret it.) It is also especially obvious in satellite images (for those pollutants that can easily measured by satellite). Eg. the NO2 concentrations have gone down significantly in many areas of the world. eg. https://www.space.com/nasa-satellite-air-pollution-us-northeast-coronavirus.html https://www.space.com/nasa-satellite-air-pollution-us-northe... but you can easily look for more.
nelaboras 7y ago
the Dolphins in venice was really a matter oft cleanliness, and possibly less boat traffic. The canals aren't so deep that you would not see dolphins swimming through on normal days.

checker659 7y ago

Are you sure you're not finding the sky blue because it's spring?

christophilus 7y ago
The sky here normally has 5+ jet contrails. I live approximately between Atlanta and Charlotte. I can’t think of a single time since moving here that the sky has truly been clear.